Happy Birthday Boys!

Today our sweet boys turn 4 and 2! It's so cliched, I know, but I can't believe they are already 4 and 2. It goes by so, so fast. Like a blink. It is such a blessing watching them grow, and I will always have the memories (and the pictures!) of their babyhood. They are still babies to me anyway! We took all the boys on the Metrolink today to Union Station in LA, then on the subway, and finally on a bus ride all the way to the Science Museum! It was quite the adventure, let me tell you! Grammy and Papa came with us...it was definately an adventure that required one adult per child! The boys always hear the train whistle from our backyard, and until today they thought it was the train at Victoria Gardens, but now they know better! Noah was so excited to see the train pull up at the station, and it was just priceless watching him experience seeing a real train for the first time! I love sharing this stuff with my kids...it's like getting to experience it for the first time all over again! I love that! When we finally got to the museum, they had a really cool little exhibit for kids that had a pretend little house, complete with a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and backyard with a garden! The kids loved it! They also had an awesome aquarium exhibit with an under water tunnel, and a touch pool. They had a little dive show as well, where we got to see a scuba diver in the tank. The kids seemed to like it, and the diver gave them a high five on the wall of the glass tank! Caleb did really good all day, and just took his naps in my sling! He slept and nursed while we rode trains, subways, and buses! I love that he is so flexible! It allows us to take the kids places and not always stay home for naps. I love my sweet baby! The twins were so tired as we began out trek back home, that they fell asleep on the city bus! Nick was holding Levi, and Papa was holding Micah in a carrier, and they just passed out! It was hot, crowded, and loud, but it made no difference! I was glad they at least got a little nap! We were all definately tired at the end of the day, but it was worth it seeing the boys faces watching the trains, and looking out the windows at the city going by! They loved it, and it made for a memorable birthday! Happy Birthday my little loves!

Last day of three and one!

We had such a fun day on the last day before the boys birthday! I decided to take the plants out of the planter box and put sand into it for the boys to play with instead. I was just going to thrown the plants away, but mom was over and she re-planted them all on the hill! Now we have a whole little strawberry patch on the hill and the kids can't reach them as easily to pick them while they are still green! We also have rosemary and oregano on the hill now too.

He found his feet today!

Foot-grabbing is one of my very favorite things, and Caleb is one of my very favorite babies, so today was pretty much one of my very favorite days.

Breaking news...

I realized today that I almost have actual footage of Micah fracturing his foot. Actually the 5th metatarsal on his right foot, if you want to get technical. I stopped filming about 60 seconds before he got hurt so I could go inside and finish making dinner. Mothers don't encourage their small children in activities that may break bones, right? But there I am in the background encouraging them, recording them even! In my defense, you can hear me tell them to go go go go go jump be careful! Ah well, I'm not sweating it too much! As much as I want to, I can't protect my children from everything in life, and their picnic table jumping antics seemed harmless enough. Boys will be boys, right?!

Anyway, the day he actually broke it was last Tuesday, March 15. We took him to Kaiser on Thursday, March 17 and they x-rayed his foot at that time. The Dr. told us it looked like there was no fracture, and that he just sprained and bruised his foot.
Then I get a phone call Monday morning, the 21st, saying he actually has a fracture, and can I bring him in right away for a cast! WHAT?! I really was in disbelief that it took them that long to let us know our toddler's foot has a fracture requiring a cast! I am still trying to get down to the bottom of why it would take them so many days to let us know this! We just switched to Kaiser the first of the year, and I am not very happy so far.
Then today I spent about an hour on the phone with Kaiser trying to procure a "boot" for Micah to wear over the cast so he can walk around without slipping and slidding all over the place on our laminate flooring. They keep giving me the run around about which Dr. needs to order the boot, and then finally they find information saying that Micah isn't supposed to be bearing any weight on his foot. A day has now past since he has gotten the cast on, and finally someone bothers to tell me he isn't supposed to be walking on it. So it took 5 days after his initial appointment for me to get the full story about his condition and treatment. Ridiculous. And how on earth can I possibly get an almost 2 year old to not bear weight on his foot. Riiiiiight.
The best part about this whole ordeal is how absolutely sweet and cooperative Micah has been throughout. Seriously, he is such a sweetheart. He didn't move a muscle during the x-ray, and then held his leg up perfectly still while two big male cast putter-oners, put on his cast. No crying, kicking, or screaming for this laid-back dude. He doesn't mind the cast one bit, and he has a smile on his face to prove it!

St. Patrick's Day

Made green pancakes for breakfast this morning. Nick stayed home from work so we could take Micah to the Dr. to see about his foot. They took an x-ray of his foot, and there was nothing broken! Thank you Jesus! I was not relishing the idea of Micah's foot in a cast! He was sooo good during the whole appointment! I think he really enjoyed having some time with most of mommy and daddy's attention. I had Caleb with me but he was asleep. It was really nice to just have one big kid with us to give attention as well. It felt like a break! Imagine having 2 kids under two at a Dr. appointment feeling like a break! ha ha!

Then tonight I made corned beef and cabbage for dinner, and Mom and Dad and Nat came over to share it with us. Gale came over as well, but she left before we ate it! Yum! Last year I made it for the first time, and I remember not liking it. This year I realize I didn't like it last year because I was about 5 and a half weeks pregnant with Caleb and my morning sickness was just about to start, so I think that had a whole lot to do with why I didn't like it! This year I thought it was pretty tasty!

I took these pictures of Caleb today, and I love them. His eyes are beautiful and his skin is so soft and perfect. Ah, my baby!

Wednesday

Mom got home from Ohio today and came over first thing in the morning to see us! The kids were so excited and so was I! We really missed her! We got to check out her car, which somone hit yesterday when Dad was on his way to pick her up at the airport! Bummer! Noah said, "Now Grammy's car is ugly!"

It was nice and warm today, and the kids played outside a lot. Then later on in the afternoon Noah wanted me to make popcorn and we watched a cartoon. We just put the corn into a brown bag and microwave it, add a little olive oil and salt, and yum! He loves hearing it pop! When the twins woke from their nap, we made more so they could have some and they loved it too! Then they promptly removed their diapers and ran through the backyard half-naked while eating their popcorn. They are nuts! :)

Micah hurt his poor little foot yesterday, and he is still saying it hurts today and favoring the other foot a little bit, so we are taking him to the Dr. tomorrow to make sure he didn't break anything. He was jumping off of the picnic table onto the giant cheese when he hurt it. Poor baby.

The twins are talking so much, and adding so many words to their vocab by the day. Levi talks a little but more than Micah right now. He will repeat any word you say pretty much, and Micah will just look at you and blush when you ask him to repeat words sometimes. Levi can say "Micah" and "Noah" really good now. It is soo cute how he says it. They both also started saying "es" which is yes. I love the way toddlers learning to speak say things!

Noah still says things that are so cute as well. I love how he says "f" for "th"...like "I am free" (three), and he says "grill" instead of girl, and tonight he told me we needed to clean out the garage because it was a "zaster" (distaster)! I love it, and I don't want to forget the sweet, innocent way that they all speak! :)
Caleb has been using his hands like crazy the last few days! He can't stop grabbing things, and putting things in his mouth. His hands and fingers, toys, or even my chin. It doesn't matter what it is, he just wants to bite it! He is starting to bite the occasional "button" now too! Ouch!

Today's Special

Who says

there can be
too many cooks

in the kitchen?

Most amazing video ever

Cheeks

The only time

in life

when chubby cheeks

are one of your best features.

Crocs

I am such a fan of Crocs now it is ridiculous.I am an even bigger fan of the boy wearing the Crocs.

So

So sweet.

So cute.

So stinker.

So silly.

So Noah!

Love was in the air at the LA Zoo...

We had the delightful opportunity of witnessing giraffes mating yesterday when we went to the zoo, but luckily the kids were oblivious, so we were able to avoid any awkward explanations. Based on the size of certain parts that were involved in the, ahem, mating process, I am surprised they didn't notice! haha I didn't take any pictures of this, but an entire group of Jr. High students took plenty!
Anyhow, the weather was perfect, there was no crowd whatsoever, and the kids had so much fun! I didn't get one picture of them all looking at the camera since they were way too busy checking everything out to turn around and look at their mama! They were even able to find some time to squeeze one of their favorite activities in...climbing! And for once it wasn't climbing on our furniture! Bonus!

Caleb was such a good boy on his very first trip to the zoo! He slept peacfully in my sling for naps, and then rode in the stroller for a little bit while he was awake. Here he is enjoying the kangaroo, which you can see in the background. This is proof that he was really there, and we can actually leave the house with all 4 children in tow!
Ricky, Brianna, and Cheyanne met up with us yesterday, and Noah and Cheyanne had way too much fun playing with the zoo map. I think they were pretending to be our little tour guides! They were too cute!

This is a really cool viewing area where you can see some monkey's that the boys all thought was like a tree house. It was pretty cool!

Before bed I asked Noah to name which animals he liked the most and he said 1) the elephants, because they are so big and strong 2) Giraffes, cause their necks are really long and 3) the Condor, which he wanted get on and fly. I have to say my favorite part was seeing the elephants as well! They are so beautiful and smart too! One of them was bobbing it's head in time to some music the zoo was playing! It was so cute!


Overall, based on this picture, I think Micah may have had the most fun!

The twins missed their regularly scheduled naps at 1, so by the time we got in the car at 4, it took about 5 minutes for them both to pass out!

Noah stayed awake the whole way home though, apparently while needing to use the bathroom! What a trooper!